Purpose: Our purpose in this study was to explore relationships between aspects of objective and perceived housing in five European samples of very old adults, as well as to investigate whether cross-national comparable patterns exist. Design and Methods: We utilized data from the first wave of the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study. The five national samples totalled 1,918 individuals aged 75 to 89 years. O

The study which was conducted from January 2003 to December 2004 was to yield a specific knowledge about the technical and institutional problems, challenges and opportunities in planning for sustainable urban transportation. Before reaching this stage, it was necessary to get a clear picture the problem, and this showed that the performance of public transportation in Dar-es-Salaam in terms of so

Autoxidation of five flavonoids representing range of different hydrophilicities (epicatechin gallate (ECG), (+) catechin((+)Q, epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epigallocatechin (EGC)) in three different aqueous solutions: molecular solution, micellar solution (Tween 20) and liposoml dispersion (soybean lecithin) was monitored by HPLC. The rate of oxidaton of the five flvonoid

We present a Monte Carlo study of a model protein with 54 amino acids that folds directly to its native three-helix-bundle state without forming any well-defined intermediate state. The free-energy barrier separating the native and unfolded states of this protein is found to be weak, even at the folding temperature. Nevertheless, we find that melting curves to a good approximation can be described

The growth of a short edge crack, located within one grain in a bcc crystal and subjected to cyclic loading, is modelled using a dislocation formulation. The external boundary including the crack itself is built from dislocation dipole elements and the plasticity is represented by discrete dislocations moving along preferred slip planes. The crack propagates by single shear due to emission and ann

We investigated the effects of a single course of antenatal betamethasone on neonatal somatic and brain development. On day 20 of gestation, pregnant rats were injected with either with 170 mu g kg(-1) body weight of betamethasone ("clinically-equivalent dose," equivalent to 12 mg twice, 24 hours apart) or half this dose or vehicle. Pups (8-11 animals per experimental group per time-point per gend

Rhizoplaca Zopf is a genus characterized by an umbilicate thallus with an upper and a lower cortex, as well as a cupulate hypothecium. It has been considered to be related to Lecanora Ach., the type genus of the Lecanoraceae and, in particular, to the lobate species of this genus. The phylogeny of Rhizoplaca, the monotypic Arctopeltis thuleana Poelt, and a number of representatives of different gr

We have calculated the electronic structure of InAs quantum dots embedded in InP as a function of size, using strain dependent eight-band k.p theory in the envelope function approximation. A realistic three-dimensional shape was used for the simulations and the piezoelectric polarization of the system was included. In order to avoid spurious solutions, an extra term was added to the Hamiltonian. P

A rapidly implemented qualitative study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of women about abortion in Egypt using in-depth interviews with hospitalised patients and focus group discussions with family planning clients and non-contracepting women. The most salient issue confronting the patients (whether the abortion had been spontaneous or induced) was their physical survival. The necessi

Spontaneous activation of rhodopsin without light absorption occurs at a much lower rate in rod photoreceptors and insect rhabdoms than in cones. The difference lies in the pigment molecules themselves, and has implications for the design of visual photoreceptors.

Nineteen pre-school children with language impairment participated in a computerized naming task. The naming procedure involved two conditions, one unprimed where the child had to name a colour picture appearing on the screen as fast as possible and one primed where the picture was preceded by an uncompleted sentence. Response times were significantly shorter in the primed condition compared to th

Some fungal species have been listed as a problem causing fungi in indoor air and most of this group are known to produce mycotoxins. So far, mycotoxins have been found in building materials and in samples representing settled indoor air dust, as well in air samples from industrial or agricultural environments. The present paper presents the results of a mycological study and mycotoxin analyses of

AIM: We aimed to find out if abnormal left atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) is a sign of myocardial dysfunction, even in patients with normal left ventricular (LV) regional wall motion (RWM). METHODS: We prospectively performed echocardiography in 1350 consecutive patients referred to our echocardiography laboratory. Left AVPD and LV RWM were evaluated in all patients. We prospectively s